IT IS rare for the loser of a heated argument not to regret the one-liners they failed to deliver and the points they failed to make. And that evidently includes even as skilled an orator as the President of the United States.

Vanquished on stage in the first presidential debate, Barack Obama belatedly unleashed a barrage of mocking put-downs and scathing criticisms of his rival Mitt Romney when he returned to the campaign trail in the key swing state of Ohio.

"Now, my opponent, he was doing a little tap dance at the debate the other night, trying to wiggle out of stuff he's been saying for a year," said the president, to whoops and cheers. "Maybe it was 'Extreme Makeover', debate edition."

That was just the sort of searing jibe that, to the dismay of his supporters, Mr Obama shied away from dispensing in front of a television audience of 67 million two days earlier.

But late on Friday night, the full-frontal assault on his Republican challenger delighted the 9,000-strong crowd that braved a downpour to attend the open-air rally at a college sports stadium in Cleveland.

Mr Obama was ui to try to pile up votes in the solidly-Democrat city in the battle to win Ohio - the ultimate bellwether state and the most coveted trophy in US presidential elections.

No Republican has reached the White House without winning Ohio and, ominously for Mr Romney, Mr Obama has already opened up a clear lead in several recent polls.

Defeat in the state would mean probably require Mr Romney to triumph in the other seven toss-up across the country to win the presidency.

But as Air Force One descended through the clouds to land in Cleveland on a cold grey day, it was Team Obama that had cause to worry about the polls. New surveys conducted by pollsters Rasmussen the day after the debate showed the president's lead down to just one per cent, while Mr Romney had edged ahead in Florida and Virginia.

The first indications of a turnaround in Mr Romney's previously sagging fortunes fuelled the impression from Wednesday night that his debate performance had been as commanding and composed as Mr Obama's was listless and lacklustre.

The crowd who braved the rain in Cleveland certainly cannot claim they have been ignored by the candidates. Indeed, when Mr Obama strode onto the sodden stage in Cleveland, he was making his 14th trip of the year to Ohio -- and he will be back in the state capital Columbus on Tuesday.

Adding to the spring in Mr Obama's step was some rare economic good new. Jobs figures announced on Friday morning put the unemployment rate below eight per cent for the first time in his presidency, helped distract attention from events just 36 hours earlier.

"It's a reminder that this country has come too far to turn back now," he said to cheers. "We cannot afford to double down on the same, old, top-down economic policies that caused this mess in the first place. We can't afford another round of tax cuts for wealthy folks, we've got to give and maintain tax cuts for you.

The president also made political capital of Mr Romney's debate pledge to cut funding for the public broadcasting network, one of whose most popular programmes is the long-running children's show Sesame Street.

Evoking pantomime-style boos by raising the spectre of a threat to Big Bird and Elmo, he noted: "Governor Romney is going to let Wall Street run wild again, but he's going to bring the hammer down on Sesame Street."

While the crowd lapped it up, Democratic strategists were left wondering why he had refrained from such digs on Wednesday night -- apparently out of a desire not alienate the "undecideds" who tell pollsters that they don't like negative politics.

He did, however, touch on Mr Romney's most serious recent gaffe when he was taped at a meeting with rich donors sounding as if he writing off the 47 per cent of Americans who pay no federal income tax.

"When I was elected in 2008, 47 percent of the people did not vote for me," he said. "But I didn't say, well, I'm not going to worry about those folks. I said, even though you didn't vote for me, I've heard your voices and I will be your President, too."

The president was on a roll. But it is one thing for Mr Obama to deliver an impressive speech to the politically converted from a teleprompter.. It is another for him strike back in a televised debate, a format that has never been his strong point.

The president's aides have already made clear that, unlike Wednesday, he will not be trying to play it safe in the two remaining debates this month with Mr Romney.

Mr Obama will atttend a debate "training-camp" later this week at a retreat in Virginia ahead of the second face-off on Long Island on Oct 16. John Kerry, the Massachusetts senator who is playing the part of Mr Romney in rehearsals, is under orders to be tougher with his sparring partner in the mock sessions.

Mr Obama's gaffe-prone vice president, Joe Biden, has meanwhile been taken off the campaign trail for five days to prepare for his one debate this week with Mr Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan.

Even as they prepared for future showdowns, the Obama camp also rolled out a series of new television commercials accusing Mr Romney of dishonesty and distortions in the first debate.

Such attack advertisements are nothing new to the 11 million people of Ohio. No state has been more saturated with campaign commercials. Television viewers have had more than 90 presidential slots on their screens a week, the vast majority of them negative attacks on the rival candidate.

Mr Obama's perspective, though, they seem like money well-spent in a state where two years ago, a Republican governor was elected in the mid-term backlash against his administration.

Since then, however, Ohio has bucked economic trends as its manufacturing base has recovered from the post-2008 slump and unemployment is lower than the national average. Most notably, with its large car plants and motor supplies industry, Mr Obama has been credited for the impact of the auto bail-out programme that Mr Romney opposed.

The relentless campaign advertising portrayal of Mr Romney's role with his Bain Capital private equity business as a "vulture capitalist" has also gained traction with the state's working class voters.

For the two campaigns, if Ohio is the quintessential swing state, then Lake County is its quintessential swing district.

The county is a microcosm of Ohio and indeed America, with working class communities around manufacturing plants, dormitory neighbourhoods for Cleveland commuters and rural stretches of garden nurseries and vineyards.

In 2000 and 2004, locals voted narrowly for George W Bush in his two close-fought presidential victories, while four years ago, they opted for Mr Obama.

And at the Republican offices in the Lake County seat of Painesville, 30 miles east of Cleveland, activists insist their operation has been galvanised by Mr Romney's debate showing.

"We have had a rush on yard signs," said Jan Clair, the county Republican chairwoman, referring to the Romney advertising for front gardens. "The debate was huge. Many people got to see Mitt Romney in his own right for the first time."

For Mr Obama, the challenge now in the coming TV debates is to persuade those new recruits to the Romney cause that putting up the sign outside their house may have been a little hasty. To do that, though, he will need to learn how to deliver some winning one-liners without the aid of a teleprompter.